If halloween were a more elegant holiday than it is, this is what I would serve at halloween parties – smooth, silky creme brulee with a hint of roasted pumpkin and fall spices, topped with spicy garam masala pumpkin seeds. As it is, we’ll save this for fancier events and stick to the garish chocolate and peanut butter combinations tonight. I’m a creme brulee fiend – I can never resist ordering it for dessert when we’re out for dinner – so when Trevor made this amazing version at home he won me over all over again. This recipe is all him, so I’ll let him tell you its story…

A couple of months ago, when we started cutting into our very first home-grown Sugar Pie pumpkins, I decided I really wanted to do something besides endless pies with them. My first thought was ‘Oh! pumpkin creme brulee!’ The pumpkins we grew have a lot of natural sweetness, and would be perfect for a light creme brulee. A quick google, however, revealed that I wasn’t the first, or even the fifth person to think of it. The internet is full of pretty well-established pumpkin creme brulee recipes.

Demoralized, I decided to play with the flavors of roasted pumpkin seeds. Rather than salt and oil, I settled on the sweet, caramel-y flavors of Indian spices with a little kick. Cumin, masala, and chili powder paired nicely with the sweetness of the ginger and the nutty seed flavor. So I made these once, and they were gone in about a day, (mostly my fault).

I figured that the crunchy, crystallized seeds would be the perfect garnish for a bruleed crust, and would add a little something different to the pumpkin creme brulee recipes that were already out there. So with the seeds as a starting point, I threw some darker, intense spices into the milk while making the custard. Adding too much pumpkin to a creme brulee recipe is problematic for the final set of the custard, so the autumn flavor really has to come from the spices. The amounts aren’t enough to hit you over the head, but it’s definitely more than your classic vanilla bean dessert. It turned into a classy dessert with a little something extra, and I think it made Katie pretty happy. So it’s all good.

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Garam Masala Pumpkin Seeds

Makes 1 cup of seeds.

• 1 cup pumpkin seeds
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ⅛ tsp cumin
• 1 tsp garam masala
• ⅛ tsp ginger
• ½ tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 ½ tbsp canola oil

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine sugar, salt and spices.
2. Combine pumpkin seeds and oil in a separate bowl, stirring to coat seeds completely. Add half of the sugar mixture to the seeds and stir to coat.
3. Spread the seeds evenly over  a baking sheet and bake for 30 min, stirring every 8-10 minutes, until the seeds just begin to brown, and become crunchy.
4. Before the seeds begin to cool, add the remaining sugar mixture, and stir to coat.

Pumpkin Creme Brulee

Serves 4. Adapted from The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Pastry Arts.

• 1 ½ cups heavy cream
• ½ cup whole milk
• ⅛ tsp ground ginger
• 3 whole cloves
• ⅛ tsp ground cardamom
• ⅛ tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• ¼ cup pumpkin puree
• 4 cups boiling water
• ⅓ cup white sugar (for sprinkling)
• ⅓ cup turbinado sugar (for sprinkling)

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Combine milk and cream along with the spices in a small sauce pan and heat over medium heat until the mixture begins to steam heavily and give off a nutty aroma. Do not let the mixture come to a boil.
2. Remove from heat and allow the milk to steep for 15 minutes. In a small bowl, combine the granulated sugar and egg yolks and whisk until smooth.
3. Strain the whole spices and any skin that formed from the milk mixture. Add the strained milk to the egg yolks and sugar, stirring constantly. Once combined, add the pumpkin puree and mix until smooth.
4. Divide the mixture between four creme brulee dishes, and set in a large baking dish. Fill the baking dish with boiling water so that the water reaches to just below the lip of the creme brulee dishes. Bake in the oven for 30-40min, checking after 30 minutes for done-ness. The custards should be firm, but jiggly. Refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight, covering with plastic wrap, but ensuring the wrap does not touch the surface of the custard.
5. Combine the two sprinkling sugars in a small bowl, and remove the dishes from the refrigerator, uncovering them carefully. Spread the sugars evenly in an ⅛” layer over the top of the custard, taking care not to disturb the surface.
6. Move a lit pastry torch over the surface of the creme brulee such that the tip of the blue flame is about 1 ½” away from the surface of the sugar. Keep the torch moving over the sugar until it begins to bubble slightly and turn a light brown.
7. Allow the sugar to cool. Sprinkle masala pumpkin seeds over the top and serve immediately.

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• 2 ripe pears, plus extra slices for serving
• 1/3 c. sugar
• 1 c. water
• 1 whole cinnamon stick
• 5 whole cloves
• 4 oz. maple liqueur
• 1 bottle white wine

1. Peel and core the pears and roughly chop into cubes. Place the pear cubes, sugar, water, cinnamon stick, and cloves in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer until the pears are soft, about 8-10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove the cinnamon stick and cloves and discard. Puree the pear and syrup mixture until smooth, in a regular blender or using a hand blender.
2. Put the pear syrup back in a saucepan. Add the liqueur and wine and heat over low heat until just steaming. Remove from the heat and ladle into pre-warmed glasses (to prevent cracking. Garnish each glass with a few slices of pear, then serve.

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The Book: It’s been a while since I’ve done a new cookbook review, but with the height of cookbook season coming up in September and October, it’s time to dive back in. One book that I’ve been sitting on for most of the summer is Daniel Galmiche’s Revolutionary French Cooking. I’m a big fan of both the concept and execution of this cookbook, which has more novel and inspiring but not out-of-reach recipes than I’ve seen in a new cookbook for a while. The book is structured around three concepts that define modern cooking in chef Daniel Galmiche’s view: liberté, classics released from the constraints of tradition; égalité, humble ingredients elevated into starring roles; and fraternité, classic combinations of ingredients made new through innovative techniques and preparations.

Whether or not you buy into the national motto of France as a corollary for modern cooking styles, the recipes in each section are exactly what I’m looking to make these days: creative, ingredient-focused, but approachable dishes. They do maintain a very French feeling, but in a fresh sense – in a way, they aptly capture the “New American” vibe that many restaurants are going for these days, a recipe style that is very much anchored in French bistro cooking, but brings in spices and flavors from Latin and Asian cuisines. Some dishes in the book are remarkably simple, like the three-ingredient stuffed tomatoes, while others are more complex, but most fall solidly into a middle category of difficulty, the kind of dishes I would make for dinner on a night when I’m not in a hurry and feel like sitting down to something hearty and different. And I have to mention – the photographs are gorgeous, the kind of images that make me hungry, with lots of rich tones and a palpable juiciness in each picture.

The Food: The recipes in this Revolutionary French Cooking scream fall to me – wild mushrooms and cider-braised roasts and creamy gratins abound. If I hadn’t already delayed writing this review for as long as I have, I’d be tempted to wait another month just to feature one of the incredibly enticing autumnal recipes with you. There are a handful of savory summer recipes that struck me, like the Tomato Confit Tartlets and the Smoked Chicken and Zucchini, but where the summer recipes really shine is on the sweet side. Almost every dessert in the book features fresh fruit – peaches, plums, strawberries, raspberries, oranges, pineapple, mango – they all get a chance to play a starring role. So in a nod to the cooler weather we’ve been having but without diving full force into fall ingredients, I decided that Honey-Baked Figs with Sweet Ginger Slices was the recipe to try from this book. It’s a fairly straightforward recipe: drizzle a bit of honey and cinnamon on quartered fresh figs and roast for 10 minutes, then make a quick sabayon from egg yolks and the roasted fig juices, pour over the figs, and broil. For how elegant it seems, there’s relatively little time involved in preparing it. To be completely honest, I wasn’t head over heels for this recipe, but I think that’s a combination of the fact that we don’t get particularly sweet figs around here, and that I just don’t like figs as much as I want to. I’ve really tried to love figs, but in my book, they’re just OK. So I’m not letting it reflect poorly on the book, but I probably wouldn’t repeat this recipe.

Note: the recipe calls for serving the figs with a small piece of ginger or spice cake, which is sliced thinly and then baked at a low temperature until it is dried out. Since ginger cake is not something you can buy pre-made this time of year, and I didn’t feel like baking a cake just to dry it out, I decided to make a quick batch of ginger lace cookies instead. In my mind it’s the same idea – something thin and crispy with the flavors of gingerbread. I’ve included the recipe as written below, but know that I did make this change and that it’s an option if you also don’t have ready access to spice cakes.

Recipe Shortlist: Chicken Pot-Roasted in Cider and Paprika; Venison Bourguignon with Dark Chocolate and Star Anise; Pineapple Beignets with Mango Carpaccio; Lentil Bacon Soup with Mushrooms and Thyme Cream; Snail, Fennel, and Almond Casserole in Red Wine Sauce; Pan-Roasted Duck Breast with Spiced Peaches; Smoked Chicken, Zucchini, Garlic, and Rosemary Casserole; Early Grey Rice Pudding with Blackberry Marmalade

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Disclaimer: I received a review copy of Revolutionary French Cooking from Duncan Baird Publishers, but I was not otherwise compensated and all thought and opinions are my own.

Cinnamon and Honey-Baked Figs with Sweet Ginger Slices

Serves 4. Recipe from Revolutionary French Cooking.

• 3 1/2 inch piece of ginger cake or other spice cake, frozen until almost hard
• 12 firm purple-black figs
• 2 TBS honey
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 5 TBS plain Greek yogurt
• 2 egg yolks

1. Preheat the oven to 275°F. Cut the cake into 8 thin slices, and lay on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover with a second sheet of parchment paper and a second baking sheet so the slices are held flat, then bake for 6-8 minutes. Carefully lift off the top baking sheet and paper, then return the cake to the oven and bake 3-4 minutes longer so the slices dry out. Remove from the oven and let the slices cool.
2. Turn the oven up to 350°F. Slice the figs into quarters from the top down, slicing only about halfway down so the figs remain attached at the bottom. Place on a baking sheet, cut side up, and drizzle with the honey and 4 TBS of water. Sprinkle with the cinnamon, then bake for 12-15 minutes until they are soft. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and pour the roasting liquid into a bowl. Pour half of the liquid into the Greek yogurt and stir to combine.
3. In a large heatproof bowl, beat the two egg yolks to combine, then beat in the other half of the fig liquid. Bring a pot of water to a simmer, then place the bowl with the egg yolks over the simmering water, being sure the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water. Beat the eggs vigorously as you hold the bowl over the simmering water, until the mixture becomes thick and pale yellow, and forms ribbonlike shapes when you lift the whisk out of the eggs. This should take about 5-8 minutes of vigorous whisking. Spoon the sabayon over the figs. Turn the oven up to broil, and broil the figs for 2-3 minutes, just until the sabayon is golden brown. Remove the figs from the oven and serve with the Greek yogurt and ginger slices.

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I am so over this winter. The snow has just been pouring down in Boston, and although I generally love that my office has a big window, it seems like all I can see lately are whiteouts. Last Thursday, this weekend, yesterday, today – four storms in seven days. Enough already.

But I know winter’s not all bad, and so I’ve been trying to enjoy what it does have to offer. I spent last weekend in Maine with my dad, and although it was still snowy and cold, at least there was a bit of sunshine, clean snow, and plenty of fresh air. We spent the mornings waking up slowly to drink coffee by the sunny windows; the afternoons trekking through the woods, enjoying the heavy stillness of a freshly blanketed pine forest; and the evenings eating too many cookies and watching movies. It was incredibly relaxing, and hopefully gave me just enough optimism to make it through the next three weeks (before we head to Ecuador!).

When I can’t be traipsing through pretty snow and enjoying the quiet of fresh winter air, I can at least be snuggled up enjoying rich, warm drinks I’d never make in the summer. This cocktail was inspired by a recipe in Winter Cocktails called 1,001 Nights. A smooth and thick mixture of rum-and-cinnamon-soaked dates blended with coconut milk and served warm, it’s an incredibly rich and comforting drink that hints of warmer climes. Tasting it after blending, I thought it was a little too sweet, so I skipped the honey and sweetened whipped cream that the original recipe called for and instead added a splash of bourbon to the mixture. The result was just right for me – the drink was still sweet and rich, but with just enough smoky, woodsy flavors to offset the syrupy-ness. While it certainly has it’s roots in Middle Eastern flavors, it has a profoundly American accent, so I’ve changed the name to 1,001 Kentucky Nights. And I’d make it just like this next time, too. That said, if you don’t have a copy of Winter Cocktails yet, you should really go order one – I’ve discovered so many great recipes from it this winter.

P.S. Check out the genuine Omani goodies making my pictures that much more authentic! That’s agar wood in the box in the background, and the little knobbly stuff in front of it is frankincense. I had never really thought about frankincense being a real thing before, so I was genuinely shocked when Trevor showed it to me. So cool.

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1,001 Kentucky Nights

Adapted loosely from Winter Cocktails. Serves 2-3.

• 1/2 c. pitted dates, roughly chopped
• 3/4 c. dark rum
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3/4 c. coconut milk
• 1.5 to 3 oz. of Bourbon

1. Add the chopped dates, rum, and cinnamon stick to a small saucepan. Bring to a very gentle simmer over low heat, and simmer until the dates have absorbed most of the liquid and are very soft, about 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool 5 minutes, then remove the cinnamon stick (you can save it for garnish, if you’d like).
2. Add the dates and their liquid to a blender with the coconut milk. Blend on high until the mixture is smooth and thick. Strain the mixture back into the small saucepan. If you are using a high-powered blender, such as a Vitamix, you won’t need to strain it. Reheat gently until just warmed through. Stir in 1.5 oz. of Bourbon and taste, adding more if you’d like a stronger drink. Serve immediately.

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Back in September, I did a little recipe development for the California Almond Board, after which I found myself with a lot of leftover almonds and a huge tub of almond butter sitting in my pantry. I’ve always been a faithful peanut butter lover, but I started playing around with the almond butter, adding a little bit to my various breakfast recipes to see how I liked it. I quickly stumbled upon a combination that I couldn’t get enough of – oatmeal flavored with thick pieces of cooked apple, a sprinkling of cinnamon and brown sugar, and a healthy tablespoon of almond butter swirled in at the end. It was sweet, it was creamy, it was filling, and it satisfied my autumnal cravings for a hot breakfast without the guilt of some of my other hot-breakfast staples. I dubbed it “Apple Pie Oatmeal,” and proceeded to make all my coworkers jealous of the warm, sweet-smelling breakfast I was enjoying every morning. Yes, my coworkers, because one of the best things about this recipe is that it’s portable – you can assemble all the ingredients for this in a tupperware before you leave for work, microwave it for 2 minutes once you’re there, and have a warm, delicious breakfast to savor at your desk. Believe me, it really brightens up a dreary morning. After four months of eating this for breakfast at least once a week, it has become a tried and true favorite, and I figured it was high time I shared it with you.

I want you to know: I’ve experimented a lot with this recipe. I’ve swapped out the apples for frozen blueberries and raspberries. I’ve used maple syrup instead of brown sugar. I’ve replaced the almond butter with peanut butter and tried omitting the cinnamon. However, nothing is as good as that initial combo: oats, milk, apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, almond butter. It’s perfect. That said, you should feel free to play around with it on your own! Just don’t be surprised if you find yourself coming back to the original, too.

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Apple Pie Oatmeal

Serves 1.

Note: I prefer making this in the microwave – it’s faster, less messy, and the apples get softer. However, it’s also good on the stovetop if you prefer to make it that way. I’ve included instructions for both, below.

• 1/2 c. oats
• 1 c. skim milk
• 1 small apple, cored and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 TBS almond butter
• 1 TBS brown sugar
• 1 TBS sliced almonds, toasted in a dry skillet (optional)

1. If making in the microwave: combine all ingredients except the sliced almonds in a microwave-safe tupperware or bowl. Cover loosely with a lid or paper towel, and microwave on high for one minute. Remove, stir, and return to microwave. Microwave in 30 second intervals until oats and apples are cooked and slightly soft, stirring in between intervals in the microwave. It usually takes only two or three 30 second intervals to finish the oatmeal. Careful – if you cook it too long it might overflow from the bowl, so watch it closely! Sprinkle the toasted almonds over the top, and serve.
2. If making on the stovetop: combine oats, milk, and apple in a small pot. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until oats and apples are soft, about 5-8 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in cinnamon, almond butter, and brown sugar until fully incorporated. Sprinkle with toasted almonds and serve.

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Giveaway is now closed. Congrats to Rachel Wang on winning!

September is “Better Breakfast Month,” and although it seems that somehow the month is almost over, I think celebrating breakfast is something worth doing. When the California Almond Board asked if I’d like to help them celebrate, I said yes – I love breakfast, and I think it’s important to make time to eat a filling and healthy meal first thing in the morning. So they sent me some almonds and almond butter (and they’ll do the same for one of you, see the giveaway details at the end of this post!), and I whipped up some almondy waffles to keep me full and happy.

Weekend breakfasts are a time when I can find myself over-indulging. I just love breakfast foods – eggs and bacon, fruit smoothies, waffles, french toast, cheesy grits, bagel sandwiches, stuffed crepes, leftover apple pie (does that count as a breakfast food?) – and sometimes it can be tempting to eat a little bit of everything. I decided to make one of my favorite indulgent breakfasts, waffles and maple syrup, a little bit healthier by replacing half of the flour with ground almonds, and swapping out the maple syrup for some lightly sweetened stewed apples (disregard the ice cream in the photo, that didn’t make anyone any healthier… but oh man was it good). The waffles turned out great – airy and slightly almondy with crispy edges. They were a little drier than my usual recipe, but I felt good about the extra protein and fiber I was getting from a meal that is typically an excuse to gorge on empty calories. And the flavor of the cinnamon, almonds, and apples were so autumnal – the perfect thing to eat on your porch on a sunny Saturday morning.

The Almond Board also shared some other ideas for quick and filling breakfasts. Some of them I’d heard before, but some were brand new – and really good – ideas. Some of my favorites?

• Satisfy your sweet tooth with a second breakfast “sundae” treat. Swirl a tablespoon of almond butter and a teaspoon of sweetened cocoa into oatmeal; top with fresh fruit and some warm skim milk and you’ll have a breakfast that will surely keep you company till lunch.
• Weekday french toast: Beat an egg along with a dash of vanilla and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Dip a slice of 100% whole grain toast bread into the egg mixture and cook on the stovetop in a nonstick pan. Top with sliced almonds, warm berries or sliced banana for an easy way to enjoy a hot, well-rounded breakfast.
• Raise a glass to a refreshing way to start the day with this unique, really tasty smoothie: in a blender combine 1/2 cup skim milk, 1/2 cup of plain Greek yogurt, 1/2 baked sweet potato, 1/2 banana, 1 tablespoon of almond butter and 3 ice cubes. Blend together and you’ll be off to a smooth start with the natural sweetness of the banana and sweet potato, both potassium powerhouses!

Giveaway details: The California Almond Board has offered to send one of you a Better Breakfast Starter Kit, with one pound of whole almonds, one pound of sliced almonds, one jar of almond butter, a reusable insulated travel pouch for breakfasts on-the-go, and one $20 Visa gift card to buy anything else that makes your breakfast better. To enter, leave a comment below letting me know what your favorite way to make your breakfast a little bit healthier is. By entering, you are agreeing to the official rules as listed here:

• No purchase necessary
• Void where prohibited
• One entry per household, and only entries answering the question above will be considered!
• The sponsor of this giveaway is the California Almond Board
  
• The estimated retail value of the Better Breakfast Starter Kit is $50
• The odds of winning will depend on the number of entries received
• This contest is only open to U.S. Citizens over the age of 18
• The contest will open today, September 29th at posting time, and will close at 11PM EST on Friday, October 4th, 2013
• One winner will be selected randomly and contacted via email (so please leave an accurate email address!). If I do not hear from the winner within 48 hours, the winner forfeits their prize and an alternate winner will be chosen.
• I will post the winner here by Friday, October 11th.

Disclaimer: California Almond Board sent me a Better Breakfast Starter Kit to create this recipe, and is the host of this giveaway. I was not otherwise compensated. 

Cinnamon-Almond Waffles

Serves 4.

• 1 c. sliced almonds
• 1 c. AP flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 TBS sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 eggs, separated
• 1 1/2 c. milk
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1/3 c. vegetable oil
• pinch cream of tartar

1. Place the sliced almonds in a food processor or blender. Pulse for 2-3 seconds at a time until the almonds have a consistency finer than cornmeal (if you blend for too long, the almonds will eventually turn into almond butter, which is way pulsing them is better). Sift the almond flour through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium mixing bowl, placing any almond pieces that are too large to go through the sieve back into the food processor to be re-processed. Continue until you have 3/4 cup of almond flour.
2. Add the AP flour, baking powder, cinnamon, sugar, and salt to the almond flour, and whisk until evenly combined. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks until pale yellow and thick. Add the milk and the almond extract and whisk to combine. Add the dry ingredients to this batter, and stir until fully mixed, then whisk in the vegetable oil.
4. In a large, clean bowl, beat the egg yolks until they are frothy, then sprinkle with a pinch of cream of tartar and continue to beat until they form stiff, shiny peaks. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter, stirring as few times as possible to incorporate the egg whites without deflating them. Preheat and prepare your waffle iron, then cook the waffles on it according to manufacturer instructions. Serve hot with apple pie topping (recipe below) and ice cream if you’re feeling indulgent.

Apple Pie Topping

Makes about 2 cups.

• 2 large apples, such as Honeycrisp, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1/3 c. sugar
• 1 TBS cinnamon
• 2 TBS water
• 1/3 c. sliced almonds

1. Add the apple pieces, sugar, cinnamon, and water to a small saucepan, and place over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until the apples have started to soften and the sugar has thickened into a loose caramel. Add the almonds and cook 1 minute longer, then remove from heat and serve over waffles or ice cream.

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I’m home! We had a great trip – lots of eating, walking, photographing, exploring small villages and oohing and ahhing at all the famous monuments. We even managed to spend a little bit of time, you know, relaxing. Ten days was just long enough, and so far I’m enjoying being home just enough to offset post-trip depression. I will definitely have food stories to share, but I have lots of thoughts and notes and photos to sort through first. In the meantime, I wanted to share this somewhat overdue book review of Try This At Home, the new(ish) cookbook from Top Chef winner Richard Blais that I’ve been meaning to write about since it came out in February.

Try This At Home is a challenging and exciting cookbook. In contrast to many of the books I tend to gravitate towards, its focus is not on seasonal vegetable-based cooking (e.g. Vegetable Literacy, The Chef’s Collaborative), nor is it a photography-driven travel-cum-recipe regional book (e.g. Venezia in Cucina, Every Grain of Rice, The Latin Road Home). Instead, its appeal lies in the new-to-me, modernist techniques and creative twists that it brings to familiar recipes like hamburgers and ice cream. Both during Top Chef and at his restaurants, Blais is known for using molecular gastronomy to elevate classic dishes into something unexpected and exciting. This may sound like a skill that would be difficult to translate into a book designed for home cooks, but Try This At Home makes it surprisingly accessible.

There are certainly recipes that will challenge the home cook, like Spaghetti Carbonara made with Chicken-Flavored Agar-Agar Noodles, but there are many more that require no special tools or ingredients, only an open mind about how flavors work together. Some of his ideas are so creative yet so simple that my reaction is not intimidation, but something more along the lines of “What?! That’s awesome, I’m doing that immediately.” A good example? Freezing blue cheese sauce into ice cream and serving it with a hot steak. So simple, yet if you did that at a dinner party, your guests would be amazed. It’s a book that expands your imagination and you will definitely learn a thing or two from it.

When things do get a bit more complicated, Blais calls it like it is by designating these recipes as “2.0” takes on the simpler version. For example, the Sweet Tea Ice Cream recipe is creative but easy to do at home with a standard ice cream maker; it gets taken to the 2.0 level with the addition of dry ice in the freezing process. If this next level of cooking appeals to you, there are some tools and special ingredients that you may find yourself searching out after reading this book. Some items I’m considering purchasing are an iSi Siphon for creating foams and mousses, a pressure cooker (especially since so many of the recipes call for the delicious sounding Pressure-Cooker Braised Bacon), and maybe someday, a sous vide machine. Before I make any major purchases, though, I’m going to keep testing out the equipment-free recipes – the Vidalia Onion Rings with Beer Mustard, the Lemon Curd and Black Pepper Roasted Chicken, and the Sticky Pudding with Scotch Sauce are all on my shortlist.

I did try out one of these simpler but creative recipes to share with you here – these Cinnamon Brioche French Toast Skewers. It’s a basic french toast recipe except for three clever changes: one, adding dried hibiscus and lavender to the butter in the frying pan or griddle, two, adding the Moroccan spice blend ras el hanout to the batter, and three, skewering the french toast on cinnamon sticks, making a super-fun treat for kids (or maybe even grown-ups at a weekend brunch party). They didn’t have any hibiscus or lavender at my Wholefoods, so I ended up sprinkling a few sachets of Tazo’s Passion tea into the pan (it’s largely hibiscus-based) and I LOVED the effect it had. The dried flowers coated the french toast and gave it a sophisticated and floral tang that was unexpected but so delicious. I would absolutely make it this way again.

The bottom line: Try This At Home is a fun and creative introduction to some of the techniques of molecular gastronomy, made accessible through the use of simple and easy to find kitchen tools and well-loved flavor combinations. Some of Blais’ recipes are challenging, but many of them are simply new ideas that could be executed by any motivated home cook. I’d recommend it to experienced cooks with an urge to explore new methods and new flavors.

Disclaimer: A review copy of Try This At Home was provided to me free of charge by Clarkson Potter, but I was not otherwise compensated and all thoughts are my own.

Cinnamon Brioche “French Toast” Skewers

Reprinted with permission from Try This At Home. Serves 4.

I made this French toast for a very sophisticated audience when I did a cooking segment on the PBS Sprout kids’ program The Sunny Side Up Show, where I appeared with the resident star, a squawking chicken puppet named Chica. The recipe is standard egg-dipped French toast, but I cut slices of day-old brioche into long rectangles and use cinnamon sticks to skewer them, so the overall effect is of French-toast-on-a-stick.

• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped out, and seeds pod reserved
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon ras el hanout (Moroccan spice blend; optional)
• Four 2-inch-thick slices brioche
• 12 cinnamon sticks
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus (optional) more for serving
• 2 dried hibiscus flowers, crushed (optional) [Katie’s note: I used two sachets of Tazo Passion tea in place of the hibiscus and lavender flowers to wonderful effect]
• 1⁄2 teaspoon dried lavender flowers (optional)
• Pure maple syrup, warmed, for serving

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F. Place a cooling rack over a baking sheet and set aside.
2.  In a shallow dish, whisk the eggs, milk, vanilla seeds, salt, and ras el hanout together.
3. Cut the crusts from the brioche slices and cut each slice crosswise into 3 strips. Insert a cinnamon stick into one end of each strip. Dip each piece of bread in the egg mixture, letting it soak for at least 5 seconds on each side, and transfer to the cooling rack to drain.
4. Heat a pancake griddle or electric skillet over medium-low heat. Add the butter, the vanilla pod, and hibiscus and lavender flowers, if using, and cook until the butter is melted and bubbling. Add half of the soaked bread pieces and cook, turning once, until golden, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer them to the rack-lined baking sheet and keep warm in the oven while you cook the remaining bread.
5. To serve, stack 3 skewers on each of four plates. Spread a little more butter on them, if desired, drizzle warm syrup over them, and serve.

The post Book Club: Try This At Home // Cinnamon Brioche “French Toast” Skewers appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

Update: The giveaway is now closed. Congrats to Amy of U Try.It on winning! And thank you everyone for sharing your perfect Valentine’s Day dreams… so fun to read.

If you live in Somerville, MA, you’ve almost definitely heard of Taza Chocolate.  If you live elsewhere in Greater Boston and have ever gone to any event remotely food-related, you’ve probably heard of Taza Chocolate.  But if you’re further afield, you may never have had the delicious experience of eating their stone-ground Mexican chocolate, and so I’m here to share the love, because I really do love Taza’s chocolate.  It’s different – gritty, not super sweet, and infused with flavors like chipotle and cinnamon and orange – but it’s addicting.  Trevor introduced me to it a few years ago and I’ve gotten more and more excited about it ever since.  Visiting the Taza factory in Somerville has been high on my “to-do in Boston” list since I moved back, and when I finally got around to it (which, admittedly was kind of a while ago at this point…), it was well worth the trip.

I’ve been on a decent amount of food tours – to breweries, cheesemakers, cider houses, farms, and restaurant kitchens – and they can definitely be hit or miss.  The Magic Hat Brewery Tour was a disappointment and I learned very little.  Visiting Prodigal Farm in North Carolina was truly fascinating (you can read more about it here).  The Taza tour was way up on my quality scale – honestly, it was one of the most interesting and informative tours I’ve ever been on, and I’m not just saying that because there was a constant supply of chocolate samples during the tour.  It probably helped that I knew very little about the chocolate making process to start.  Did you know how huge cocoa pods are?  Or that they grow straight from the trunk of the tree?  Or that they turn beautiful colors in the fall?  Just the images of the cocoa trees themselves fascinated me.  Then we moved onto the harvesting, shipping, roasting, winnowing, and grinding processes, and every piece of information was new and exciting.  I don’t want to give away their whole tour, in case some of you would like to actually hear it from the Taza people themselves rather than in an overly-excited and garbled form from me, but I will share some of the highlights.  Like that one of the co-founders of Taza spent a year in Oaxaca learning to properly dress the traditional millstones used to grind the chocolate.  Or that their winnowing machine is an old Italian giant they found on a cocoa sourcing trip.  Or that they travel to the countries from which their cocoa beans come every year to pick the best quality beans and make sure the farms they come from are fair.  Or that the difference between European and Mexican chocolate is the addition of milk and a thorough mixing process to smooth it out.

I highly recommend a trip to the factory if you live in the area or are ever visiting. And if you’re really looking for the full chocolate experience, Taza offers a week-long trip to Belize every March in which you go through the entire process of making chocolate, from picking cocoa beans to making your own bars (sometimes I really wish I was richer). If a quick jaunt to make chocolate in the jungle isn’t in the cards for you this year, either, I have two other things you might enjoy – one, a delicious chocolate mousse recipe, and two, a Taza chocolate giveaway.

Typically I just eat Taza chocolate straight – my favorite flavors are the salt & pepper and the cinnamon – but since we’re getting close to Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d step my game up and make a Mayan Chocolate Mousse, inspired in equal parts by Food & Wine’s Mayan Chocolate Pudding, and Bon Appetit’s recent article on the perfect chocolate mousse. I went all out with the cinnamon, using two packs of Taza cinnamon chocolate discs, replacing the espresso with my favorite cinnamon tea, and topping it off with a sweetened cinnamon whipped cream. It came out amazing, if I do say so myself. I really loved that the mousse still held the essence of Taza chocolate, it didn’t just taste generically chocolatey. I don’t know if I’ll even be able to wait until the 14th before making it again…

Giveaway Details: Interested in trying Taza chocolate? Enter to win the Chocolate Mexicano Classic Collection, and you can try six of their flavors (a cinnamon disc is included, leaving you just enough to make a portion of this mousse for two…). To enter, leave a comment below telling me how you would spend your ideal Valentine’s Day if money wasn’t an option. For a second entry, follow both me (@Kitchen_Door) and Taza (@TazaChocolate) on Twitter, and tweet to both of us about the giveaway, then come back and leave me a second comment letting me know you tweeted. The giveaway will close at midnight on Tuesday the 5th, at which point I’ll randomly choose a winner. Open to U.S. readers only. If the winner doesn’t respond to me within 48 hours of me notifying them they’ve won, I’ll have to pick an alternate winner

P.S. I LOVED reading all your comments about your most memorable Valentine’s Day on my last giveaway. It was so fun to hear all the stories!

Disclaimer: Taza is hosting this giveaway, but I discovered the product myself and truly love it, and have not been compensated in any way for writing this post.

Mayan Chocolate Mousse

Adapted from Bon Appetit and inspired by Food & Wine. Serves 4.

Note: Chocolate Mousse can be a little bit finicky – I accidentally scrambled my first batch of egg yolks! – so carefully follow the instructions provided and make sure your ingredients are at the correct temperatures. If you mess up, don’t fret – the end result will be worth trying again!

• 3/4 c. chilled heavy whipping cream, divided
• pinch cream of tartar
• 2 egg whites, room temperature
• 4 TBS sugar, divided
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/4 c. strong cinnamon tea, at room temperature
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 packages of cinnamon Taza chocolate, or 5.4 oz. dark chocolate, finely chopped
• 1/8 tsp cayenne chili powder
• 1/8 tsp allspice
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon if using regular chocolate + 1/4 tsp cinnamon for whipped cream

1. Measure out 1/2 c. of the heavy cream into a medium bowl. Whisk vigorously until foamy, sprinkle with the cream of tartar, then whisk until stiff peaks firm. Cover and chill.
2. Beat egg whites vigorously until soft peaks form. Sprinkle 1 TBS of the sugar over the top, and continue beating until stiff, shiny peaks form. Set aside.
3. Bring a large pot of water to a gentle simmer. In a medium metal bowl, or a smaller metal-bottomed pot, whisk together the egg yolks, 2 TBS of the remaining sugar, room temperature tea, and salt. Set the bowl over the simmering water and whisk vigorously until mixture is pale yellow in color and doubled in volume. This will only take about a minute – remove immediately when it’s ready (or a second before you think it’s ready, as this is where it’s easy to accidentally scramble your eggs). Add the finely chopped chocolate and stir until it’s melted. If chocolate is not melting, it’s OK to set back over the simmering water for intervals of 5-10 seconds while whisking the mixture, but finely chopping the chocolate should remove the need for this. Once chocolate is melted, add the cayenne, allspice and 1/4 tsp cinnamon (if not using cinnamon chocolate) and whisk to incorporate. Let cool to room temperature.
4. Fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture in two additions, only folding until just incorporated. Fold in the whipped cream until just incorporated. Divide between four dishes and chill for at least 1 hour.
5. Just before serving, beat remaining 1/4 c. of heavy cream and 1/4 tsp cinnamon until soft peaks form. Sprinkle with remaining 1 TBS of sugar and whisk to incorporate. Dollop a bit of whipped cream on top of each portion, and serve.

The post Taza Chocolate Giveaway and Mayan Chocolate Mousse appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

Over a year ago, I promised my coworkers that I would bring in some homemade monkey bread for them. Today, they finally got it. What happened in between? Mostly, a lot of excuses, like, “I can’t bake monkey bread this week, I’m trying to eat healthy!” and “Monkey bread is off this weekend guys, I have to make Peppermint Mocha Sundaes.” This week I decided to cut the excuses – I put “make monkey bread” in my calendar for Thursday night, I came home from work in the 5 degree weather, and I did it.

Monkey bread, for those of you who don’t know, is like a bundt pan full of a hundred tiny cinnamon buns that have been drenched in butter. As you might be able to guess from the description, it’s pretty much hard to go wrong with it. Most versions use canned biscuit dough as the base, but I decided to go fully homemade and make the sweet bread dough – thanks to my bread-baking mother and boyfriend, I don’t have a fear of making yeasted things. Actually, I think it’s pretty easy, and I think you will too. Plus, since you’re covering this particular bread in cinnamon-sugar-butter, no one is going to notice if you didn’t let the dough fully complete its rise.

My coworkers devoured these in a matter of minutes. So quickly, in fact, that I had to promise to make another batch next week for the people who didn’t get to try any. Also, Trevor just threw a mini-fit when he found out I made it and he didn’t even get a chance to sample some. Like I said, it’s hard to go wrong. Give this recipe a try – maybe this weekend, to ward off the cold – and people will love you.

P.S. You have until midnight tomorrow to enter my chocolate giveaway sponsored by Lake Champlain Chocolates!

P.P.S. WordPress just informed me that today is my 3rd blogging anniversary. Consider this monkey bread a celebration!

Monkey Bread

Adapted slightly from Cooks’ Illustrated, via Mel’s Kitchen Cafe. Serves 8-10.

Note: I got away with using a few tablespoons less butter than the original recipe called for (I melted the full 8 TBS, but ended up with a few leftover), so I’ve listed the amount I used below. If you run out of butter for dipping, just melt a little bit more. Also, I don’t have a stand mixer so I make everything by hand – if you’re lucky enough to have one, check out Mel’s Kitchen Cafe for instructions on making the dough with one.

• 10 TBS butter, divided
• 1 c. plus 2 TBS milk
• 1/3 c. water
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
• 3 1/4 c. flour
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 c. light brown sugar
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 c. confectioner’s sugar

1. In a medium, microwave-safe bowl, mix 2 TBS of the butter, 1 c. of the milk, and 1/3 c. water. Microwave on medium for about 90 seconds, until liquid is warm to the touch (but not hot), and butter is mostly melted. Stir to incorporate the butter. If the liquid is too hot, let cool until it feels warm to the touch (liquid that is too hot will kill the yeast). Stir the 1/4 c. of sugar into the warm milk mixture, then sprinkle the yeast over the top of the mixture. Let sit for 10 minutes. Yeast should begin to bubble up as it sits.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour and the salt. Make a well in the middle, and pour in the milk-yeast mixture. Stir to incorporate, then knead with your hands until the dough is smooth and elastic. If you took the dough out of the bowl to knead it, return to the bowl, cover with a towel, and let rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours.
3. Remove the risen dough from the bowl and shape into an 8×8 inch square. Use a knife to cut 8 lines across the top of the dough, rotate 90 degrees, then cut 8 lines in the other direction to form a cross-hatch pattern. You don’t have to cut all the way through, just mark the squares. Pull the squares off one by one and roll into small balls. Set the balls aside – you should have 64 of them.
4. Melt the remaining 8 TBS of butter in the microwave. Use a pastry brush to brush some of the butter on the inside of a bundt pan. In another bowl, stir together the brown sugar and cinnamon. Dip each of the balls into the melted butter, then into the cinnamon-sugar mixture, then place into the bundt pan. Try to fill the bundt pan evenly with the balls. Cover the bundt pan with a towel, and let rise 1-2 hours in a warm place.
5. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Remove the towel, and bake the monkey bread for 35 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool 5 minutes, then turn out onto a plate while it’s still warm. Don’t let it cool completely in the pan, or it won’t come out of the pan easily.
6. Mix together the remaining 2 TBS of milk and the confectioners sugar and drizzle over the warm bread as a glaze. Serve warm.

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Happy 2013, everyone! I’m back from a lovely, restful long weekend in Maine with my family and Trevor, and am feeling refreshed and ready to start up some new projects. Maine is so beautiful at this time of year – we had 18 inches of snow, and spent many hours trekking about “exploring” like little kids, tracking the deer and snowshoe hares, and reveling in being able to be outside in such a pristine and quiet place. And once the sun went down, we had board games and reading by the fire, and warming meals of lamb curry and seafood lasagna. I was out like a light by 9 every night. Of course, I think I undid some of the restfulness last night… but it was completely worth it. We started off the evening by having tapas and cocktails at Dali with one of my oldest and best friends and her boyfriend, and then met up with some of my favorite people from high school for a relatively mellow but very fun night of board games and beer pong and excessive drinking. It was just right.

And now it’s 2013! By this point, you’ve probably seen dozens of New Year’s posts – round-ups of the best recipes of 2012, recaps of years both good and bad, hopes for the future, lists of resolutions, and rants about the futility of resolutions. It may seem a little silly for there to be so much fuss about reflection on just one day, but the truth is it’s nice to have a natural time to take stock of your world, to think back on what you accomplished in the past year, and to set goals for the future.

2012 was a good, stable year: nothing bad happened, and a lot of good things happened. You can’t ask for much more than that. At my real job, I worked on a series of interesting projects with interesting people – I traveled to Spain to hob-nob with CEOs, learned a great deal about terrorism risk, and became close friends with several of my co-workers. Then just a few weeks ago, I was promoted – a really positive way to move into 2013! On the blog, things moved much faster than I expected. Last year, I quietly set two goals which I felt were very ambitious – one, to have 500 subscribers, and two, to host a giveaway. I’m so pleased to have exceeded both, with over 1,000 of you out there reading on a regular basis, and two book giveaways this fall (and several more giveaways scheduled for the not too distant future!). So, thank you, everyone, for reading – it means so much to me that you enjoy this space. On a more personal level, the things that define this year for me include completing my first two half-marathons ever, starting adult ballet classes and totally falling in love with them, building a vegetable garden with Trevor, really settling in to life in Boston, and throwing a few really fun parties.

As for 2013, I have a good feeling about this year. I can see the possibility of being in a very different place in 12 months than I am right now, and I’m excited to see what the year brings. I definitely want this year to include more travel, with trips to Montreal and Italy in the works already. I also really feel the need to get serious about having healthier eating habits. Food blogging is a blast, but I indulge far too often. Trevor and I have grand plans for the Andover garden and orchard – I already can’t wait to start our seedlings. In general, I just want to do more – go camping, finally break in those ice skates, host more dinner parties, make more of an effort to see friends, etc. Oh, and I’m pretty set on going to adult ballet camp. Which is going to be awesome.

With all that introspection done, let’s get back to food. January to me always calls for simple recipes, food that is wholesome and restorative without being fussy. When I saw a recipe in Maria’s Ancient Grains for Modern Meals for Bulghur with Butter-Roasted Almonds and Cinnamon, I was immediately brought back to a meal I had on a cold, winter-y day at the Lebanese restaurant in my hometown. It was similar to Maria’s recipe, but included shredded chicken, cooked until crispy in cinnamon-butter. I knew it would be the perfect meal for a cold day, so I recreated it, using Maria’s recipe as the base, and then threw in some pomegranate seeds at the end for a dash of color and sweetness. It was warm, nutty, buttery, and crunchy – a perfect first meal of 2013!

Bulghur with Butter-and-Cinnamon-Roasted Chicken and Almonds

Inspired by Ancient Grains for Modern Meals. Serves 2-3.

• 1 large boneless skinless chicken breast
• 1 large shallot, peeled and sliced into quarters
• 10 whole peppercorns
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3/4 c. bulghur [with 1 1/3 c. water]
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 TBS salted butter
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• pinch cayenne pepper
• 1/2 c. whole skin-on almonds, toasted lightly
• 1/4 c. pomegranate arils (optional)

1. Place the chicken, shallot, peppercorns, and cinnamon stick in a shallow pan, such as a dutch oven, and fill with water to cover the chicken by about 1/2 an inch. Bring to a boil over medium heat, boil 3 minutes, then remove from heat, cover, and let sit for 15 minutes for the chicken to finish cooking. Remove the chicken, check to ensure that it is cooked all the way through, and rinse under water to cool. Tear the chicken into bite-sized pieces and set aside.
2. Bring 1 1/3 c. water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add bulghur and salt, stir, return to a boil for 1 minute then reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and simmer on low for 15 minutes, until bulghur has absorbed all of the water. Fluff with a fork.
3. While bulghur is cooking, melt the butter over medium heat in a large frying pan. Once it has melted, cook for 2-3 minutes, until it smells nutty, is foamy on top, and has brown flecks at the bottom. Scrape the brown flecks up from the bottom with a wooden spoon, then add the cinnamon and cayenne powder and stir to combine. Add the shredded chicken and almonds (they will sizzle!) and cook, stirring, for 3-4 minutes, until everything is fully coated in the cinnamon butter and the chicken is beginning to crisp around the edges. Add the bulghur to the pan and stir just to coat. Remove from heat.
4. Serve warm, garnished with pomegranate arils if desired!

The post A New Year (and Butter-Roasted Cinnamon Chicken) appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

Does seasonal eating ever stress you out?  It does me.  Knowing that there are so many foods available for only a few months, or weeks, even, makes me feel a huge amount of pressure to cook, cook, cook as much as possible with those ingredients before they’re gone.  I know this is the wrong way to think about it, that I should just be enjoying each season in its own right, cooking what I feel like when I feel like it, just eating the produce in my fridge rather than spending hours googling “savory apple recipes” and “things to do with figs,” but this mentality seems embedded into my list-making, multi-tasking personality.  I’m the same way about life in general.  I’m such a planner and there’s so much I want to DO that sometimes I don’t get around to any of the things on the list.  Planning vacations, for example – I’ve probably spent a collective 24 hours trying to plan a 48 hour weekend getaway for this fall. Yes, the daydreaming and planning is part of the fun, but sometimes, I wish I could be more spontaneous.  Just pack up and go.  Experience things without imagining the experience 40 times over before hand.  Not have a mild anxiety attack at the mere idea of my Saturday afternoon plans changing.

However, this personality trait is useful, to a certain degree.  It means I’ve never found myself in a crisis while on the road – I always have all the phone numbers and maps and back-up plans at hand.  And it means I don’t drop the ball or let things slip through the cracks at work, which can only bring good for my career.  Really, I just need to find an internal balance – stay well-prepared without over-thinking something to the point of causing myself stress about the what-ifs; agree to an impromptu afternoon out with friends rather than automatically declining; enjoy the seasonal food I do get a chance to cook without worrying about all the things I didn’t get to this time around.  Perhaps just another way of saying “live in the moment,” but worth reflecting on.

Let’s get back to food.  Fall food.  My mental list of seasonal ingredients for this season is long – apples, pears, figs, chestnuts, mushrooms, squash, grapes, beets, brussels sprouts, potatoes and probably more that are currently escaping me.  Then there are the soups and stews and slow-braised meats that are really only appropriate in cold weather – like this Braised Lamb with Polenta or this Sausage and Tortellini Soup.  We listmakers, we sometimes get caught up making the list and never get around to doing anything on it – and I’m determined not to let that happen for the next few months!  I’m off to a good start with this super delicious Cider Doughnut Cake.  Is there anything more fall than Cider Doughnuts?  Even better, I took today off from work to pick apples and hang out with Trevor and enjoy the sunshine and leaves… and eat real cider doughnuts.  So I can attest to the likeness of this cake to the real deal.  My roommate corroborated through text message: “Strong work, tastes just like the orchard!”  If you’re a fan of the doughnuts, do you need more reason than that to try this bake-able version?  I didn’t think so.

Stay tuned for more fall recipes, soon.  Especially ones with apples, as I’m now the proud owner of half a bushel…

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Apple Cider Doughnut Cake

Adapted from Serious Eats.  Serves 12.

• 1 stick plus 1 TBS salted butter, softened
• 2 medium Macintosh apples, peeled, cored, and cut into cubes (about 8 oz. total)
• 1 1/2 c. apple cider
• 1/2 c. milk, slightly warmed in microwave
• 3/4 c. + 4 TBS sugar
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1/4 c. canola oil
• 2 1/2 c. flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Melt 1 TBS of the butter and use a pastry brush to spread it around the inside of a bundt pan, making sure to get in all the creases.
2. Place the chopped apple and the apple cider in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Reduce to a simmer and simmer for 10 minutes, until apples are soft and cider has been mostly absorbed.  Let cool 5 minutes, then puree in a food processor.  Mix with the warmed milk, whisking quickly to avoid curdling the milk.
3. In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream together the butter, 3/4 c. sugar, and 1/2 c. brown sugar until fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time, incorporating fully between each addition.  Mix in canola oil, and set aside.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and 1 tsp of the cinnamon.
5. Add 1/2 of the flour mixture to the egg/butter/sugar mixture, and incorporate.  Add 1/2 of the apple cider mixture to the batter, incorporate.  Repeat with the remaining flour and cider mixtures.  Beat in vanilla until just incorporated.
6. Pour batter into the prepared bundt pan.  Bake for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Let cool for 10 minutes in pan, then invert over a cooling rack and remove from pan.
7. Whisk together remaining 4 TBS of sugar and 1 tsp of cinnamon.  Sprinkle cinnamon over warm cake.  Let cool, and enjoy!

The post Cooking Fall & Apple Cider Doughnut Cake appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

Just because Thanksgiving has passed, Halloween is a distant memory, and I’ve already started posting about Christmas does not mean the season for canned pumpkin has ended.  But does it mean that it’s too late to share pictures of this year’s pumpkin carving?  Probably, but I’m ignoring that, because our pumpkin (and I’m using the word “our” loosely, as it was carved 100% by Trevor – how talented is he?) is too awesome not to share.  3D dragon?  Hell yeah.

Now that that bit of semi-irrelevant bragging is taken care of, let’s talk about some ways to use the 17 cans of pumpkin you (and by you I mean I) hoarded in your cabinet when you thought that there was going to be a pumpkin shortage.  Seriously, at the end of September, things were looking dire – I hadn’t seen a single can of pumpkin in any of the (four) grocery stores that I frequent.  So when I saw four measly cans at Pemberton Farms, I bought three (leaving one for someone else in my pumpkin-less situation out of empathy).  That same morning, Trevor brought over a supply of cans from his house.  Pumpkin shortage avoided.  Since then, I’ve used 1 and a half cans of pumpkin.  Turns out a little pumpkin goes a long way when you’re just one person.  I made these pumpkin scones, which didn’t have a great scone texture or a great pumpkin flavor, pumpkin oatmeal cookies, which were OK but mine came out too soft for my liking, this pumpkin ale bread, which was super fantastic, and I’m planning on trying this smoothie this week, but the recipe I’m choosing to share with you is much more decadent: pumpkin-cinnamon-pecan breakfast rolls with cream cheese frosting.  Um, yum.

These rolls are the perfect treat for a lazy weekend morning.  You can prep the dough and the frosting the night before, let them rest in the fridge overnight, and then in the morning all you’ve got to do is roll out the buns, slather with cinnamon-sugar butter, and pop them in the oven.  Twenty minutes later, as the house fills up with the smells of pumpkin and cinnamon and people start coming downstairs to sniff around, you officially become the worlds’ best mother/girlfriend/wife/daughter/male-versions-of-these-terms.  They taste like a really good, really soft cinnamon roll, but with the added punch of pumpkin, ginger, and nutmeg.  The toasted pecans in the filling and the lemon-cream-cheese frosting take them over the top.  I can almost guarantee you that a steaming pan of these and a hot pot of coffee could make any sunny December morning complete.

Overnight Cinnamon-Pumpkin Rolls

Roll recipe adapted from TheKitchn.  Frosting recipe from Good Life Eats.  Makes 8 large rolls.

For the dough:

• 2 TBS warm water
• 1/2 TBS instant yeast
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1/2 stick (1/4 c.) butter
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1/2 (15 oz.) can pumpkin puree
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 1/2 c. AP flour

For the filling:

• 6 TBS butter
• 3/4 c. brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 c. pecans, chopped finely and toasted

For the frosting:

• 2 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 stick butter, softened
• 1 c. powdered sugar
• 1-2 tsp lemon juice

1. Proof the yeast: In a small bowl, add the yeast to 1/8 c. warm (not hot) water and let sit for 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, heat the milk and the 1/2 stick butter over low heat until the butter is melted.  Mix in the sugar until fully dissolved, then let cool slightly so that it is warm to the touch, but not hot.  Stir the proofed yeast and the canned pumpkin into the milk mixture until evenly mixed, then add the salt and all the flour at once.  Stir to incorporate fully – dough should come together into a slightly sticky but workable mass.  Add another 1/4 c. of flour if dough is too sticky to work with.  Cover dough with a towel and let rise for 1-2 hours (until doubled in volume) in a warm place.  Punch down and place in fridge overnight.  (You can make the rolls directly from this point without the overnight refrigeration as well, but the extra resting time will result in a better flavor.)
2. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll out into a large rectangle of dough 1/2 inch thick, about 14 inches by 8 inches in size.  Melt the 1/2 stick of butter for the filling in the microwave, then mix in the brown sugar and spices, and spread on top of the dough, leaving an inch at the top (the long way – you’re going to roll it into a long tube and need a space to pinch the dough together).  Sprinkle toasted, chopped pecans on top.  Roll the dough into a long (14 inch tube) and pinch the ends together.  Use a sharp knife to slice the tube horizontally into 8 rolls.  Place these rolls in a buttered 9 inch cake pan with about 1/2 inch of room between them.  Cover and let rise for 40 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 375°F and bake risen rolls for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown on edges and no longer doughy in center.  While they bake, prepare the frosting: mix together cream cheese and butter until smooth.  Add powdered sugar and lemon juice and beat until they form a thin frosting.  Test for flavor and consistency, and adjust with more sugar or more lemon juice as needed.  Let rolls cool slightly then drizzle with cream cheese frosting.  Serve warm.

The post Overnight Cinnamon Pumpkin Rolls appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

The other night I was talking to my best friend on the phone, when I mentioned something I’d been working on for this blog.  “You blog?”  she asked.  “Oh, is it that food one?”  Audible sigh.  So I informed her that since I’d been working on this blog for 8 months, she needed to look at it, even though it was about something as unappealing/un-intellectually stimulating as food.  I sent her the link, and proceeded to listen to her laugh maniacally.  “Is this real?  This is hysterical.  You really write this stuff?  I have to send this to my other friends who are weird about food.”

Now, many people would construe this sort of response as hurtful and un-supportive.  But I find it both highly entertaining and priceless, mainly because it perfectly demonstrates the fact that Steph and I are complete opposites.  She gets paid to blog about feminism; I don’t get paid to blog about domesticity.  She eats mainly lettuce and is infamous for only wanting half of something scrumptious; I eat mainly everything and am known for eating my own portion as well as the half Steph didn’t want.  She is in firm control of all her emotions; I generally like to savor and prolong emotional extremes.  When we prioritize the importance of gaining money, prestige, family, love, and friendship in our lives, our lists come out as mirror images – both have friendship in the middle.  Oh, and the boys we like could not be more different.  Except for the time I was secretly dating Andrew.  Which was now.

And yet, we find all the same things extremely hilarious – Mr. Godine used to call us “chuckles” and “giggles” because that was our main form of communication, although it’s still unclear who was who in that scenario.  We like and dislike the same people, and despite being completely different, we understand each other.  Also I hang out with her because I like her dad.  (He once brought me a cookie at school when Steph told him I was having a bad day and since then I have been his most devoted fan.  It’s startlingly easy to win my love.  On the other hand, someone once ate my cookie on a date at Starbucks and I still haven’t really forgiven them, so just proceed with caution on the cookie front.)

So in honor of Steph gracing this blog with her presence, I’m making something that she would definitely refuse to eat more than 2 spoonfuls of – a blueberry and dark chocolate galette with homemade cinnamon ice cream.  Also she would almost certainly end up with some if it in her hair, because that is something that frequently happens to her when eating.  I think her hair has special attractive chemical properties.  It can sometimes be a fun game to not tell her that she has cake in her hair and let her continue telling a story while the cake bobs wildly back and forth next to her face.  Just kidding, Steph, I would never do that.  I would also like to take this opportunity to mention that I think you’re incredibly smart and talented and I think you will probably get a great job.

The galette is my entry to this month’s Have the Cake baking challenge, and it’s using up the last of the wild Maine blueberries.  The dark chocolate is included because it’s good for emotional people, such as myself.  The ice cream is because I’ve been drooling over all of the homemade ice cream recipes that have been going up all over the web since May, (seriously, you guys are the worst), and have been saving my pennies in an empty cocoa tub hoping to one day purchase an ice cream maker.  Actually, that’s a lie, Trevor and I used those pennies to buy chili cheese fries at the drive-in on the Fourth, but I like the idea of saving my pennies for an ice cream maker, so maybe I’ll start.  Anyway, now I am living with my parents and their ice cream maker, so I can whip up frozen custards to my heart’s delight and rub them in non-ice-cream-machine-owner’s faces for another two weeks until I rejoin their sad ranks.

Or so I thought.  But then my much anticipated use of the cuisinart automatic ice cream machine turned out to be a complete failure on the cuisinart’s part, so I resorted to sticking my melty custard in the freezer and stirring it once an hour.  And shockingly enough, it came out incredible.  Actually both the galette and the ice cream came out incredible.  The ice cream was sophisticated and subtle, the dark chocolate-blueberry combo was complex and not too sweet, and all together it was really good.  Not to brag.  But it was really good.  I think even Steph may have indulged in this one.  Let me know what you think if you give either recipe a try!

Dark Chocolate and Blueberry Galette

Inspired by Shared Sugar, serves 10

• 1 stick butter, cold
• 4-10 TBS very cold water
• 1 1/2 c. flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 3 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1/3 c. heavy cream
• 3 c. fresh blueberries
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/3 c. sugar

1. Prepare the pie crust: cut butter into small pieces.  Return to fridge/freezer for 5 minutes or until needed.  Mix flour, salt, and 1 tsp. sugar together in a medium bowl.  Add cold butter and combine with a pastry cutter or fork until the whole mixture is crumbly with pea sized chunks of butter.  Add cold water 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing with a fork in between additions.  Add just enough water so that the crust comes together in a loose ball of dough.  Turn out onto plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least half an hour.
2. Prepare the ganache: place chopped chocolate in a small heat proof bowl.  In a small heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring cream just to a boil.  Pour hot cream over chocolate and stir with a whisk until smooth.  Allow to cool for 5 to ten minutes.
3. Prepare the filling:  mix blueberries, 1/3 c. sugar, lemon juice, and corn starch together gently.  Allow to stand for 10-15 minutes, until blueberries begin to juice.
4. Bake galette: preheat oven to 425°F.  On a lightly floured surface, roll chilled pastry dough out into a circle about 1/4 inch thick and 12-14 inches in diameter.  Transfer to a large baking sheet with sides.  Spread a layer of ganache over the crust, leaving 2 inches at the edge.  Pour blueberries over ganache layer, and fold the sides of the crust up over the filling, sealing any broken edges by pressing together.  Bake for 20 minutes, then lower heat to 350°F and bake for another 25 minutes, until crust is light golden brown and filling is bubbly.  Serve warm with Roasted Cinnamon Ice Cream.

Roasted Cinnamon Ice Cream

Adapted slightly from Regan Daley’s In the Sweet Kitchen

• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 cups of heavy cream
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 3-inch pieces of cinnamon stick
• 6 egg yolks
• 3/4 c. sugar

1. In a dry, non-stick pan over medium heat, toast ground cinnamon for 2-3 minutes, until fragrant.  Stir to keep from burning.
2. Combine the whole milk, 1 cup of the heavy cream, and the cinnamon sticks in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to keep from scorching.  Remove from heat when it reaches a boil and allow to infuse for 5 minutes.
3. While waiting for the cream to infuse, whisk the egg yolks together in a medium bowl.  Slowly add the sugar, whisking just enough for the mixture to turn slightly paler.  Pour the hot cinnamon cream slowly over the eggs, whisking vigorously to keep eggs from scrambling.
4. When all of the hot cream has been incorporated into the eggs, return mixture to saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly for 10 to 12 minutes, until the custard has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon.  Have a clean bowl with a strainer placed over it ready on the side.  When the custard is the desired thickness, immediately strain into the bowl.
5. Add 3 tablespoons of the remaining cup of heavy cream to the pan with the ground cinnamon, stirring with a spatula until the cream and cinnamon comes together into a runny paste.  Add this paste to the strained custard, stirring to incorporate.
6. Press plastic wrap against the surface of the custard and cover bowl.  Refrigerate custard for at least 4 hours, or overnight.  Freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.

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